In-N-Out Burger still says its “slow-growth plan” does not include Colorado for now

The In-N-Out Burger restaurant near the Los Angeles International Airport on August 02, 2014. (Kent Nishimura,The Denver Post)

Update (Sept. 4, 2014): After a resurgence of speculation about In-N-Out’s potential Colorado expansion plans, Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks shared with us the word he got this week directly from the source: Still no dice, for now. A company executive wrote to Brooks: “We’ve had a few inquiries today about reports of us opening there soon. I’m sorry to tell you that those rumors are untrue.” Similar to Trader Joe’s, which just began opening up locations on the Front Range this year, the company likely first would need to open a new distribution center in Colorado to supply any new stores. And it apparently has no plans for that — yet. (Updated by Jon Murray)

Original post (July 8, 2013):In-N-Out Burger Vice President of Planning and Development Carl Van Fleet says the company is flattered by the interest in expansion to Colorado but the chain is not looking to expand from its current five-state dominion.

“You continue to give us the biggest compliment possible with your efforts to interest us in Colorado,” Van Fleet wrote in response to Brooks. “That said, at this time, we’re still not looking to add a sixth state and we’re just focusing our growth efforts in the five states where we currently operate.”

In-N-Out Burger, known for its high-quality, fresh foods, now operates more than 280 restaurants in California, Utah, Texas, Arizona and Nevada and employs more than 16,000 people.

To maintain the fresh quality of the food, In-N-Out will only open new restaurants that are within a day’s haul from distribution centers in Dallas, Texas; Phoenix, Ariz.; Los Angeles, Calif.; or Draper, Utah.

“Slow and controlled growth has always been part of our strategy here at In-N-Out Burger,” Van Fleet wrote to The Denver Post. “While we are aware of the great opportunities in Colorado, our slow growth plans will keep us focused on those five states for at least the next few years.”

You got that from this? In-n-Out only operates in 5 states. So the other 45 are all business-unfriendly? Actually, just go back and read the article, you might realize how off base your comment is in relation to this particular subject.

We have a lot of good fast-food burgers in town, we’ll survive. I like In-n-Out, I eat there every time I go to Vegas or California, but I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal. It’s just another tasty burger to me. Freddy’s, Good Times, Smash burger, Culvers, are all good, everyone has their own favorite. Although I like Steak and Shake, the one down on Quebec I don’t like. They overcook the burgers, get orders wrong, etc.I like Freddy’s much better.

But for me it’s about the fries, and either Good Times or 5 Guys both make real, fresh-cut fries cooked to order. There’s just no comparison to the pre-processed frozen kind.

The distribution centers are in the Los Angeles and Dallas areas. A day’s drive is 11 hours from federal regulations. If Denver is in range of Dallas, there are so many cities between them (not to mention in the other directions) that Denver is maybe 10-20 years in In-n-Out’s future.

Councilman Brooks knows all this and yet still contacts them repeatedly and promotes himself each time to the press as doing something when he’s really just wasting time. If he keeps it up, it’s gonna start smelling like his failure. It’s just Don Quixote chasing windmills at this point.

I’d rather he go after businesses that have a prayer of coming to Denver this decade.

Brooks has already shown his mettle by acting as water-carrier for Hancock and the Downtown Business Partnership in criminalizing homelessness. There must be someone competent who can represent the interests of the people of Five Points, but it certainly isn’t Albus Brooks!

You left out Larkburger, which does not serve ground-up songbirds, but chose a name which apparently suggests to its clientele that Larkburger’s ground cattle is healthier than all the other burger joint’s ground cattle.

Nah; this is Denver! With supposed journalists like Jeremy Meyer working for the flagship newspaper in the State, no issue of substance is addressed properly, and because most require confronting entrenched interests, the DP does more by way of suppressing local news than covering it.

Most of the comments here validate Meyer’s choice of an ostensibly political subject for this blog — you and our elected leaders are what make Denver pathetic! Our City has many deficiencies and has need of many things, starting with a clue or two; another place to get a hamburger has nothing to do with any of them!

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.